A.Balaban Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 A couple weeks ago, I purchased a washer/dryer set and realized I forgot to go through Ebates first. Hastily, I cancelled the order. My intention was to make the order again as soon as I had confirmation of the cancellation/refund. However, I got no email regarding the cancellation of the order and when I checked the status of the order on the website it seemed like everything was still a "go" so, I did not feel like I wanted to trust the system to cancel the first order and place a second order. So... I waited. Six days later, a letter came in the mail with the receipt for the cancellation, and finally, two days after that, the money showed up back in my account. In the meantime, the sale had ended. :cursing: Frustrated, I set out again, in search of an amazing deal on a washer and dryer. A couple days ago, I found a set that was "perfect" - I say that hesitantly because I don't like it as much as the first set. Nonetheless, we decided to go ahead with the purchase. An hour after we made the purchase, the funds were debited from our account, and we got an email confirmation of our purchase. The email said we'd receive a phone call within 24 hours regarding the delivery of the set. Yesterday, we waited and didn't hear anything. Today, DH called them. The lady informed him that they were waiting for another shipment, which would arrive next week, and we'd be contacted again once they were ready for delivery. DH thanked her. A couple hours later, I check my email and see an email from this same company. The order has been cancelled. When I open the email it says that the card could not be authorized, and to contact my bank for further information. This puzzles me, seeing as our bank emailed DH literally an hour after the transaction went through from the website that the amount of the order was debited. So, I contact the company. They say that the card was declined. I tell them there is no way that is possible, the money was already taken out of my account. They look up the account (using the credit card number, which I was very hesitant to provide....) and find that there is no record of any charge under that number. :boxing_smiley: He pauses, and comes back a couple minutes later, saying that the order had been on hold so I was never charged for the items. (My cancellation email clearly shows a "balance due" and $0 paid.) I told him I would be more than happy to fax him a copy of the original order confirmation from Sears, and a timestamped email from my bank which clearly shows the exact amount of the order being debited from my account. He pauses again, and says "Oh, but wait... I see.... the charges are pending. You must be mistaken. They are just being on hold while the order is processing." I said, "I'm not mistaken. The charges aren't pending. My account is clearly $X lighter today than it was two days ago." He says, "The order has been cancelled. There's nothing I can do for you." :cursing: The order was cancelled because the card wasn't "authorized", yet my bank did not stop the transaction (i spoke with a representative at my bank, who assured me there was no problem with their end with this transaction) and there's nothing I can do to "prove" it's authorized - even though they already have the money. According to my friend "Ralph" in India, the money should be refunded within 24 hours. I told him point blank, "I don't want a refund. I want my washer dryer. I paid for it." :crying: I am at a complete loss here. If I call their customer service center again, I'll get no where. It's routes me directly to a bunch of headless sheep. I intend to file a complaint with my bank if I don't get a refund for the money promptly. Though, I'm sincerely worried how they are going to refund me, when apparently they had no record of the charge, or what?!! I am just at a loss. :boxing_smiley: I'm tempted to write an email, even though it probably goes straight to the same office. Advice? Condolences? I was really looking forward the beginning of the end of our laundromat days. I wish I had just never bothered to cancel that first order for the $50 or $60, but I guess you live and learn. DH is content to wait until the next sale pops up, but he is not the one scouring for an affordable set. I'm tempted to just buy used, even with a rental truck it will still be cheaper and less hassle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan C. Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 Everytime I've bought a washer and dryer (twice in 29 years!) I've just walked into Sears, opened a Sears charge (you get a discount), pick them out, and they come the next day. I can't believe all you have been through. I would encourage you to get a regular credit card for online purchases and use that in the future! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PentecostalMom Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 No advice, just wanted ro commiserate! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LucyStoner Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 I have nightmares still about our Sears appliance order issues, 5.5 years later. Sears customer service is appalling. It was a botch job from the second they had my money. I hope you get your money back quickly. Have you thought about visiting a refurb shop? You go and see the exact one you are ordering and they will deliver for free. The savings likely exceed the eBates amount. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KungFuPanda Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 Can you plant yourself at your local Sears store and insist someone, in this country, fix the glitch and get your washer to your home. You may get a discount out of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magnificent_baby Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 I am getting flashbacks from my washer/dryer purchase from Sears last year. It was the.worst. customer service I have ever received. All I wanted was the set to ring up with the correct advertised price and a receipt. That's it. After half a dozen trips to the store, they finally mailed my receipt and conveniently forgot to add postage and a return address. I had to pay my mailman for the postage. Never, ever again will I purchase an appliance there. I am sorry you are frustrated and I hope it gets resolved faster than my experience! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magnificent_baby Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 Can you plant yourself at your local Sears store and insist someone, in this country, fix the glitch and get your washer to your home. You may get a discount out of it. I agree. After my experience from the post above, the store manager gave me a $50 gift card. Still wasn't worth the frustration though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A.Balaban Posted December 12, 2012 Author Share Posted December 12, 2012 DH called them when he came home again, and she is trying to see if she can get the order put back on hold until the refund gets processed so we can re-place the order. She was willing to reprocess the payment, but... um, they already took my money so I am not authorizing a second charge LOL. I've never had an issue with a payment before where I couldn't offer an alternative payment or get them to run it again so it makes no sense why they cancelled the order outright Edit: Now to wait 3-5 business days for the refund and see if they actually honor their arrangement. Edit2: DH just told me the REASON THE ORDER WAS CANCELLED WAS BECAUSE IT WAS A STOCK ISSUE. :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: NOT a payment issue. :cursing: :cursing: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A.Balaban Posted December 16, 2012 Author Share Posted December 16, 2012 We called back tonight because we hadn't seen any activity in our bank account regarding the refund. Once again, DH was given the run-around. "Sir, your card was not charged. It was declined." DH finally asked for a supervisor, and after about a 20 minute hold... he spoke to someone... who spoke English! :hurray: We now have to *FAX* in our freaking bank statement to prove that the charge was actually deducted from our account, and then they will make a "manual" adjustment. I told the guy that I spoke to at the beginning of all this that I would be willing to fax him proof of the transaction - as the money has been debited now almost a week! Seriously? This is the worst customer service ever. The worriesome thing is that DH got an email from the bank earlier this week with a $90 charge from Sears, but it never appeared in our bank account. We called our bank, and they had no record of the email. :confused1: I'm worried... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest submarines Posted December 16, 2012 Share Posted December 16, 2012 I am getting flashbacks from my washer/dryer purchase from Sears last year. It was the.worst. customer service I have ever received. All I wanted was the set to ring up with the correct advertised price and a receipt. That's it. After half a dozen trips to the store, they finally mailed my receipt and conveniently forgot to add postage and a return address. I had to pay my mailman for the postage. Never, ever again will I purchase an appliance there. I am sorry you are frustrated and I hope it gets resolved faster than my experience! I'm surprised by the bad customer service from Sears. We've always had the most stellar customer service from them. To the extent that a representative doing a detailed search for a copy of my receipt (which I had lost) while she only had an approximate day of purchase, and emailing a scanned copy to me. We bought 5 appliances from Sears and a treadmill in the last 5 years, and they've always been fantastic. I've actually called them to let them know how impressed I was with their customer service. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saraswati Posted December 16, 2012 Share Posted December 16, 2012 Have you considered submitting a complaint to the Better Business Bureau? http://www.bbb.org They'll jump on it to fix it - if you have documentation, and can name people specifically at Sears that have given you misinformation - even better. The BBB will contact Sears with your complaint (and what you expect in order to resolve the issue) - Sears will then have someone investigate and contact you to resolve the issue. I always go to the BBB when I have issues such as this. If the business refuses to work with you, the BBB will issue a lawyer; however, I've never had that happen - seems like as soon as they're contacted by the BBB, the information you were ripping your hair out trying to get them to provide magically appears before them! The only thing is, this process can often take a couple weeks - because the BBB gives the business so many days to contact you - and I can tell you want this resolved immediately. Hope you get it sorted soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A.Balaban Posted December 18, 2012 Author Share Posted December 18, 2012 Well, we faxed everything they wanted yesterday, and I'm on the phone now to confirm receipt. I was told on the phone to wait an additional 24 to 72 hours to hear back from whatever department is handling this refund. At least they received the fax. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A.Balaban Posted December 26, 2012 Author Share Posted December 26, 2012 Updates... It's now been fourteen days since the order was cancelled and still no refund. F-O-U-R-T-E-E-N Days! It seems like the refund has now been processed from their side and should be on my side "within 3-5 business days" I tried to ask the associate what date the refund was initially processed ... but they didn't understand the question. So, 3-5 business days from TODAY is Friday 12-28 until Tuesday 1/1. Today I just opened the Sears chat window... they are so much more friendly in text! In other news. I'm never going to have a washer and dryer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa in Australia Posted December 26, 2012 Share Posted December 26, 2012 Sorry you are going through this. :grouphug: I absolutely love your comment "A bunch of Headless Sheep" It exactly describes all my dealings with any company that diverts my customer help call to India Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A.Balaban Posted January 1, 2013 Author Share Posted January 1, 2013 :boxing_smiley: I was hoping to be able to end the saga today. Earlier today I got an email that says "a refund credit has been issued in the amount of $X and will be issued within 48 hours. It should be view-able by your financial institution in an additional 72 hours" .... So.... :glare: they told me ALMOST week ago that the refund had been issued... and I get the email today?! Both Sears.Com and the representative who emailed me got a very long complaint email, kindly explaining this is the FIFTH time I have been promised a refund but no refund has appeared yet. In other news, our new washer and dryer got here yesterday (not the same one as above...) and DH has done like.... 10 loads of laundry?!!? He just can't stop himself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KungFuPanda Posted January 1, 2013 Share Posted January 1, 2013 Hooray for working machines! I went to the laundromat for two months while I saved for the machine I wanted. I remember the sheer joy that was doing laundry at home again. Sadly, my enthusiasm faded in just a few weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CindyH in NC Posted January 1, 2013 Share Posted January 1, 2013 Good Grief!!! I want to bang my head against the wall just reading that. You have my sympathy. Now I am scared though because we just purchased a stove from Sears and I will worry until it is delivered. Hope it gets resolved asap. Cindy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A.Balaban Posted January 10, 2013 Author Share Posted January 10, 2013 .... Did you guys really expect I would get a refund? Obviously, the refund hasn't shown up yet. I called Sears again today and now they want me to fax in another credit card statement for "further research" (and so they can prove I didn't get the refund I guess) which would take another 3-5 days for them to "research" and then another 3-5 days to get the "refund" and then another delay and another delay..... So i called my bank. I'm disputing the charge and I'm done with Sears. :svengo: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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